The weblog of Norman Geras

March 26, 2013

It's their party

The word is going up over here for 'a new party of the left'. Its central aim would be to put a stop to austerity policies that are 'destroying all the social and economic gains of ordinary people since the second world war'; would be, on the contrary, to 'improve the lives of ordinary people'. For Labour isn't now a suitable vehicle for doing this.

I'm guessing that many will make up their minds about whether or not to sign up for this initiative once its stall has been properly set out - by way of central programmatic aims and policy proposals. In the meantime, however, one thing one can do is to look at who's commending the intitiative. Here it's Ken Loach, Kate Hudson and Gilbert Achcar. Hmmmm...

Ken Loach is, of course, a famous film director, but he must count among his lesser achievements his statement that the rise of anti-Semitism is 'perfectly understandable' (on account of Israel). He also stood as a candidate for Respect and supports an academic and cultural boycott of Israel. Kate Hudson was on the steering committee of the so-called Stop the War Coalition when in October 2004 it issued a statement recognizing 'the legitimacy of the struggle of Iraqis, by whatever means they find necessary' (my italics); this was at a time when such 'necessary' means accommodated out-and-out crimes against humanity. And Hudson has other form as well. Gilbert Achcar is on record as thinking that, while Holocaust-denial in the West is an an expression of anti-Semitism, in the Arab world it primarily... isn't.

Speaking for myself, though I am very much in favour of improving the lives of ordinary people, I'll be giving this new party a wide berth. The above-recorded items are only symptoms, but you know what they are symptoms of, don't you? Gimme a V, gimme an E, gimme an R... etcetera.